The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

Fangzheng clicked his tongue in amazement.

By the side, Lone Wolf nearly bit his tongue and shot a glance at Fangzheng, as though he was saying, “Heavens. How bored is she to do something like that? Master, let’s leave quickly! This woman is problematic!”

Fangzheng couldn’t be bothered with him. To Lone Wolf, it seemed a waste of time, but not to Fangzheng. Although he hadn’t interacted much with her yet, Wanderer Tranquil effused a bearing and charm that the fake Daoist priest, Perfected Inaction, couldn’t compare with. In certain aspects, she was even better than Perfected Letian! It was an outcome of her pondering over the Dao all these years.

This meant that Wanderer Tranquil wasn’t solely playing around or passing time. Instead, she was gaining insights into the Dao of nature, of everything. This was cultivating every second, treating life as a journey of cultivation. She was an impressive person who had fused cultivation into her life.

Fangzheng instantly felt deep respect for her. Even with the help of the System, he had yet to reach this step. In terms of his realm of cultivation, Fangzheng was significantly behind her.

Hence, Fangzheng pressed his palms together. “Amitabha. Patron, you are a person of great wisdom and intellect. This Penniless Monk is inferior.”

The moment that was said, Lone Wolf was the first to object. From his point of view, although the woman was quite good at talking and knowledgeable, these were things that concerned her life. If that was impressive, his understanding of the northeastern woods would be enough to make him her ancestor! So why didn’t Fangzheng claim inferiority towards him on this matter? Instead, he often smacked him on the head and berated him… Freaking hell! Lone Wolf couldn’t accept it.

Similarly stunned was Wanderer Tranquil. She stared at Fangzheng, as though she was hoping to identify his comment as polite civility, but all she saw was frankness in the monk’s eyes. His eyes were deep like an ocean of stars; Yet these deep and profound eyes shimmered with the light of wisdom. What Fangzheng emitted wasn’t a Buddhist or Daoist charm, but a warm, sun-like radiance. This quality was like a mortal’s, but it also seemed to transcend the mortal realm. The warm and genial feeling he gave off made one respect him.

Years ago, Wanderer Tranquil had also come into contact with certain monks and Daoist priests. There were those who had accomplished something in their cultivation, and there were others who were just beginning. However, none of them had a quality like Fangzheng. What he had was entirely different, and it was blinding enough to blot out the luster of everyone else. It was completely unavoidable!

Over the years, it had been rare for her to meet up with peers or even anyone at all. After all, Daoism consisted of a myriad of views that might conflict with one another. They cultivated the heaven and earth, and themselves. They were not like monks who enjoyed mingling and chatting and attending sermons.

Having not met anyone in years, Wanderer Tranquil was shocked the instant she saw Fangzheng. To have a monk appear deep in the mountains was odd. She felt a little wary at first, but she later heard Fangzheng comment her work. Thus, she naturally felt like she as a person was being commented on like she was a piece of work. Fangzheng’s actions seemed to be provocative towards her, so she had the intention to compete with him.

Hence, when Wanderer Tranquil led the way, although she was faced with Fangzheng’s questions which she answered simply, she had taken on a tone of arrogance as if she knew more than him. This bit of arrogance wasn’t much, to the degree she hadn’t even realized it herself. However, it was impossible to deny it had been there.

This continued even when she saw Fangzheng marvel in sincerity after listening to her explanations of the fence and chair. She also felt contempt coming from the dog… But she thought nothing of it.

But now, Fangzheng had suddenly admitted his inferiority, leaving her stunned. According to the script she had conceived in her mind, wouldn’t now be when he counterattacked, causing them to engage in a war of words to debate who was better?

This wasn’t right!

She should be happy with Fangzheng bowing out of this imagined competition, but instead of feeling happy, she felt ashamed. At the instant that happened, she felt like a new world opened up to her. It was a different world from the one based on survival of the fittest she had been experiencing in the mountains, but one that had to do with people.

At the same time, she felt like a huge Buddha had risen the moment Fangzheng ‘bowed out of the competition’, and it seemed to blanket the entire sky!

Wanderer Tranquil suddenly sighed as she looked at the young monk. She got up and said, “Heavenly Lord of the Immeasurable. Thank you, Master, for enlightening me. This Penniless Priest nearly lost herself in nature! This Penniless Priest’s body has insights into nature as she blends into it, but she has forgotten that This Penniless Priest is a human after all. Humans have their own human Dao, and only by fusing the myriad Dao into the human Dao will This Penniless Priest be able to walk her path without losing herself.”

Fangzheng was stunned. What was happening? He hadn’t done a thing! He had just spoken the truth. What enlightenment? Holy cr*p, something like that had actually happened?

Fangzheng was truly dumbfounded. If he were still the him from a year ago, he might have debated her. But now, with the Buddha system and talking animals, demons, and Mount Numinous’ salted fish beside him, it wasn’t clear whether the ways in which he looked at things had increased or if he had just grown numb to them, but he no longer sought to prevail over others.

However, Fangzheng reacted extremely fast. He quickly understood why Wanderer Tranquil had such a reaction. Hence, he pressed his palms together. “Amitabha. Perfected One, you are being polite. This Penniless Monk has also understood things that This Penniless Monk is lacking as a result of you. This Penniless Monk has benefited greatly.”

Fangzheng wasn’t sucking up to her. What he lacked the most was perseverance. When it came to perseverance, Wanderer Tranquil was far ahead of Fangzheng.

Fangzheng spoke extremely sincerely, making Wanderer Tranquil even more ashamed. However, things became simpler once the matter was resolved.

The two sat under the banyan tree, having tea while discussing philosophy. The man was handsome, and the woman was beautiful. Matched with the ancient Daoist temple backdrop, the scene had quite a poetic vibe. At the same time, Wanderer Tranquil explained how the teapot was able to produce the tea fragrance despite not having any tea leaves.

The teapot was an antique that had been passed down for centuries. Despite all these years, it had never stopped brewing tea. The fragrance of the tea leaves had long been infused within the teapot’s interior. Therefore, even without any tea leaves, it could still emit the fragrance of tea.

When Fangzheng heard this, he was amazed. It wasn’t because of the teapot’s magical function, but because… Sigh, look at her. We are all people with masters. She has a house and land, with all sorts of treasures. Look at that mountain of mine… Sigh. Old Dad One Finger, are you ashamed?

Afterwards, the two began talking about carving techniques which left Wanderer Tranquil astonished. This was because the techniques and methods Fangzheng mentioned were completely unheard of! Many topics he introduced were like thin paper windows. Just prodding through them opened up a brand new world!

Fangzheng was also astonished as the teacher. This was because Wanderer Tranquil learned things at an astonishing speed! Thinking back to how Wanderer Tranquil had used nature as her teacher, and how she cultivated in the Dao of nature, making her path one of a natural artisan and a natural beauty, Fangzheng came to a realization. This was in a formless way congruent with Fangzheng’s core carving techniques! It wasn’t just her talent, but even her experience matched perfectly!